They should design a rifle mount for this stuff.
from the article:
| Quote: |
| Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands three to four metres across the room. If it falls to the ground, no tripwires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible. |
I just saw that article! Who would ever have thought that stuff could be useful? Whoever thought that up should get a medal! With all the military think tanks thinking up weapons and protection, some grunt with his ass on the line comes up with it! American Ingenuity strike again.
Who would think that silly string could be so useful? Now, the troops just have to hope that the enemy doesn't get their hands on some laser trip wires....that could spell trouble for the silly string users.
I think laser trip wires can be detected with a smoke grenade. Well at least thats what i remember from McGyver, except he used a signal flare. motion and proximity sensors would be a problem. I wonder if they have something to detect that.
| Satori wrote: |
| Who would think that silly string could be so useful? Now, the troops just have to hope that the enemy doesn't get their hands on some laser trip wires....that could spell trouble for the silly string users. |
| NemoySpruce wrote: |
| motion and proximity sensors would be a problem. |
They would still be set off by the silly string while the troops are far away from the booby trap. It might still hurt them, but it would be better than walking right into it.I think that the silly string is an excellent solution to trip wires, but how many units/squads in the field would actually have access to these?
Obviously, only one or two men in a sqaud or team would have these, but will there be enough of them in the field, and how quickly would they receive training? A tool like this would be extremely useful if properly applied.
It's possible to sweep a room for bugs using electronic equipment, and I'm sure that there's a way to detect motion sensors too, even before a room is entered. I don't think it's a question of technology, I think it's more a question of supply and training.
Modern warfare is very different from what it was, even 50 years ago. Now each sqaud needs to have at least one specialist attached.
That's a really smart think to come up with. I've never heard of this before. Thanx for the artical
At least to me, setting them off using a minesweeper seems to be a better (though not cheaper) idea. If anyone suspects the area is tripwired, send a small armored vehicle like those used to clean minefields, and ta-da... no one got hurt
Except it costs a lot to make the bots. Well, unless you use a remote controlled car, or something like that. But they aren't that heavy.
Indeed, but if they last longer than a can of silly strings and can actually DO something apart from that, like IR scanning the previously tripwired location looking for people, it's definitely worth it.
Besides that, the invader US army has already allocated a GROSS (billions and billions of dollars) amount of money to this war, so why shouldn't they spend it on something useful?
The US military obviously is not that concerned with getting the proper equipment to the troops (remember the lack of combat vests and vehicle plating?), so I think expecting them to come up with robots for every squad is a bit outlandish. Silly string is a great, inexpensive tool. Not a cure all, but a clever tool that apparently is saving lives with very little cost while still allowing a fast response.
^But, we all know it would be just like the US government to purchase $150,000 each robots rather than use $5 cans of silly string.
| ocalhoun wrote: |
| ^But, we all know it would be just like the US government to purchase $150,000 each robots rather than use $5 cans of silly string. |
Depending, of course, in whose district the robots were made in versus which district Silly String is from. 
Are we a little jaded?I agree with the amount of equipment lacking to the armed forces. I only hope the ingenuity of the man (or woman) in the field does not allow the budget keepers to become complacent and ignore the lack of equipment.
The string idea is very ingenious – what next?
Party-poppers used as distress flares???
| Captain Fertile wrote: |
| I agree with the amount of equipment lacking to the armed forces. |
Probably thinks that the national debt should be reduced as well, in addition to adding money to welfare and other programs.
*grumbles* | ocalhoun wrote: |
| Captain Fertile wrote: | | I agree with the amount of equipment lacking to the armed forces. |
Probably thinks that the national debt should be reduced as well, in addition to adding money to welfare and other programs.
*grumbles* |
Please expand on your comment.^Just pointing out that the money has to come from somewhere, which means one of these things, or a combination of them:
*Cutting existing programs
*Higher taxes
*Higher national debt
*Not getting the equipment after all
Which ones of those would you choose?
| ocalhoun wrote: |
^Just pointing out that the money has to come from somewhere, which means one of these things, or a combination of them:
*Cutting existing programs
*Higher taxes
*Higher national debt
*Not getting the equipment after all
Which ones of those would you choose? |
Then say that in your original post, please don't just snipe and not give any indication of exactly what it was I said that caused you to *grumble*. I can't answer a post that doesn't ask me a question but quotes me and then *grumbles*.
In reply, I made a statment that if you are going to send men and women to war they should be equipped to do the job as safely as possible - in an ideal world...
...erm no, in an ideal world there would be no war. Oh Well! 
Anyway, If I could answer your question (or even make my initial stement) and keep everyone happy I don't think I would be making stetements on an internet forum, I would be making speeches in 10 Downing Street right about now.
I'm pleased I managed to find out what it was about my post that upset you, sorry I couldn't give a clearer answer.
I appreciate you are right and agree whole-heartedly in what you say about there not being a bottomless pit to finance everything.
To boil my first post down to it's essence it was more a statement in support for the people in our armed services doing the dieing, whether they be from the UK, US or whatever. It wasn't to support the war and was certainly not a call to close hospitals to pay for bombs etc.
Maybe I should have been clearer in my post too, oh well no harm done I hope. I used to work for a large international paint manufacturer, and I'm pretty certain that 'silly string' is carcenogenic..like a lot of 'crazer' paints. I'll check it out.
| BladeRunner wrote: |
| I used to work for a large international paint manufacturer, and I'm pretty certain that 'silly string' is carcenogenic..like a lot of 'crazer' paints. I'll check it out. |
Let us know what you find out, but I'm betting that occasional exposure for a limited time is going to be a lot less dangerous than walking into a trip wire attached to explosives.I heard about this silly string thing, and I think it's pretty cool. Isn't it interesting how the most elegant solutions are often the simplest? With a cousin who did at least two tours in Iraq and another one who could potentially be sent over there, I'm thankful for any edge our troops have.
Regarding the comment about the cost of war, I'm not sure that there's a good answer for that, except to say that war is very costly indeed. It's really a shame that our own government stonewalls any attempts at accountability when this war costs BILLIONS a day. Still, the primary responsibility of any government is to provide for the defense of its citizens. Everything else is pretty meaningless if we are wiped out as a people by those who oppose us. I guess the question (which I for one, think is pretty tough) is whether this war was really necessary? I dunno. Just because WMD's were never found doesn't mean that a)they didn't exist or b) Saddam's regime was a threat. At any rate, I think it's pretty obvious that our government's arrogance and blindness have led us to this FUBAR situation.
And yet, I think it bears saying that these things (rebuilding / repairing a nation) takes time, and now that we've screwed it up we've got to try and keep involved with fixing the situation.
I guess that is useful in that way. Normally, I think that whoever invent that stuffs are childish. Never thought, they can be use for some other purpose.
